


The Second Ambassador

by sleeptospeak



Series: Guardians of the City [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Bloody Boss Fight, F/M, Friendship/Love, Possible Vexcy, Surprise Cameo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-03-16
Packaged: 2018-05-13 02:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5691190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeptospeak/pseuds/sleeptospeak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Still worried about her brother, Vex’ahlia seeks a sympathetic ear. Takes place during a brief interlude sometime between the beginning of Episode 37 and the end of Episode 39.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unexpected Appreciation

“He hasn’t figured out that being scared is normal.”  
-Taliesin Jaffe

_South of Emon. Early afternoon._

Fletching arrows. _Worried about Vax._ Writing a letter to Zahra. _Worried about Vax._ Walking with Trinket outside the keep. _Still worried._

At first, this pause in Vax’s pursuit of Keyleth had quieted Vex’s fears for her open-hearted twin. Now she was having second thoughts. _What if Keyleth had said yes? Would Vax have reined in his reckless streak? For her?_ He had been careful lately, but Vex knew it wouldn’t last.

Vex scratched the bear’s hard head and grinned, despite her worries, at his amiable hum and the warmth of his fur between her fingers. “Trinket, darling, find me again when it gets dark. I need a drink and a chat with a friend.”

* * *

_Late afternoon._

Vex nudged open the workshop door, a mug of ale in each hand. Percy was hunched over a pile of sketches, tapping his workbench to a rhythm in his head. Vex slipped into the room. It was warm but not oppressive. The coals in the forge barely smoldered. “Care for a break?” she asked. “I don’t like to drink alone.”

Blue eyes lifted to regard her. “A bit early for you, isn’t it, Vex?” Nevertheless, Percy straightened, stretched, and accepted a mug.

_Shoulders_ , she thought.

Percy tried again. “Worried about Vax?”

Vex ignored both questions and paced the room, sipping her ale before she spoke. “That was quite a speech you made to Uriel after we returned from Whitestone. You seem to be coming into your own, Percival.”

“Percival?” he repeated. “You only call me that when I’ve done something wrong.”

Vex stopped pacing and turned to face him. “Not at all,” she replied. “Thanks to you, we live in an embassy now.”

Understanding softened Percy’s gaze. _Damn him._ “Ah,” he breathed. “I acted without thinking. I did not mean to cause you or your brother any distress.”

Vex snorted. “We’re fine, darling.” She spied the raven skull Keyleth had given Percy at Winter’s Crest and waved at it with her free hand. “Anyway, you’re receiving gifts from royalty now! That’s always a good thing.”

Percy shifted awkwardly and stared into his mug. He looked back at her with abrupt directness, as though he had resolved some internal debate. “Vex, I have been remiss. I never thanked you properly for that night of our dinner with the Briarwoods.”

_What was he talking about?_

“You taught me something,” Percy began. “Or possibly reminded me of something, I’m not sure.”

Vex arched an eyebrow. “Percy, are you going to be inscrutable again?”

Percy laughed, from his eyes to his belly, with the relaxed sound she had heard from him only in the last few days. “I hope not.” His face became serious and he took his first drink of the ale. “I have learned a few tricks after four years of fighting.”

Vex nodded and he continued.

“Nothing so spectacular as a lightning arrow, but ways to disable and disarm. Ways to wound and ways to kill. Whenever I thought about the Briarwoods, though, or my family, the only thing that seemed to help was the wounding and the killing. It wasn’t just the demon. It was me.” Percy shook his head. “So — when Vax was taken by the Briarwoods, when you ran in pursuit and we followed — I wanted to,” and he nearly spat the next words, “to erase Sylas from the world.”

“But you.” Percy smiled. “You rounded the wall and looked down the courtyard at your brother in the dirt.” He paused, seeming to consider his next words. “You screamed like some fey spirit out of legend and you shot — the straightest I have ever seen your arrows fly — and you were fighting to _protect_.”

Vex felt her heartbeat quicken but kept silent.

Percy stood taller, like he had just let down another burden. “Your ears are reddening, but it’s true.”

“Percy.”

“No, let me say it. Your brother almost died. _You_ almost died. You kept on fighting. When Sylas and Delilah fled and Keyleth and I managed to stop their carriage — there you were. You gave us our last chance to cut them down before they escaped to their lair. To my home.”

She demurred. “It was your arrow.”

Percy chuckled. “It was. But that’s not it, Vex, not really what I wanted to say.”

_What, then?_

“When we were under the castle, after Delilah almost killed you a second time, when I just wanted to be done with that shadow …” Percy bit his lip. “I could feel the dream taking control. I bargained and strategized, but I was far from sure that I was strong enough to resist it.”

“My brother wasn’t too sure either,” Vex teased. “He was ready to put a dagger in you.”

Percy raised his mug in a toast. “Vax does like to play the hero.”

Vex giggled.

Percy put down his drink and walked toward her. “ _Orthax_ tried to take control. Vex’ahlia, I felt his full, hideous strength. For a time, I don’t know how long, I was voiceless. Then I remembered your scream in the palace courtyard. I made it my own. I said ‘No.’”

Vex realized, with surprise, that Percy had taken her left hand with both of his. She struggled to think, emotions forming quicker than words. Percy filled the silence. “If I am ‘coming into my own,’ then I owe it to Vox Machina. To Keyleth and Pike and your brother. Gods help me, even Scanlan. But especially to you. You showed me another way.”

The sound of her bear snuffling at the door pierced Vex’s confusion. She extricated her hand from Percy’s warm grip. “I told Trinket to find me. I have to go. Thank you, Percy.”

With as much dignity as she could muster, Vex fled the workshop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Chapter 1]
> 
> Thank you for reading and for any comments. 
> 
> I edited this chapter after my initial post. I hope I improved the style. I also attempted a more open characterization of Percy. Taliesin plays him with intelligence and ambiguity and I wanted to honor both. Percy’s description of his final confrontation with Orthax is now closer to the canon events of Episode 35. My interpretation of Percy’s mindset at the moment of truth remains different from Matt’s. On to Chapter 2!


	2. Time to Think

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vex’ahlia makes her move.

For thou art with me, here, upon the banks  
Of this fair river; thou, my dearest Friend,  
My dear, dear Friend, and in thy voice I catch  
The language of my former heart, and read  
My former pleasures in the shooting lights  
Of thy wild eyes.  
-William Wordsworth

_Past midnight._

Warmed by long stockings and furs, Vex’ahlia turned in her bed and tried to stop thinking. Trinket huffed irritably on the rug between her and the door. _Taught me or reminded me. Taught or reminded._ Something bothered her about Percy’s words.

Vex sat up to stare at Trinket. “Psst.”

The bear patiently obliged her and roused himself to place his head on the bed. Vex scooched down to bump noses.

“Trinket,” she whispered hoarsely. “That night at the palace Percy was talking about, he wasn’t just firing at Lord Briarwood. I remember. He was calling him out.” _Making sure the vampire was looking at Percy and not at Vax._ “Tell me, darling. Why does he sell himself short?”

Trinket cocked his head at her with a puzzled look in his dark amber eyes.

Vex heard familiar footsteps coming down the hallway to the room across from hers. Had he heard? She lay back on her pillow and scrunched her eyes shut. _I have the worst luck._

Vex listened as Percy entered his chamber and prepared for bed. When the hall was quiet again, she resumed her contemplation to unbidden memories of the Broker’s sundered chest and Desmond’s blasted hand.

For all of his cultured reserve, Percy strongly reminded her of the wild, whose creatures could go from calm to fury in an instant. 

* * *

_Early morning._

Vex woke in darkness at the sound of a single knock. _Vax._ Trinket was gone. She rose immediately and was nearly dressed before her brother spoke.

“Wake up, stubby, let’s get some breakfast.” She opened the door to find Vax poised to knock again and stared at him with tired skepticism.

“Given the hour,” Vex grumbled, “I thought we must be under attack.” She went to find a comb.

“It’ll be dawn soon,” countered her brother, following after her, “and Laina’s been smoking some trout with herbs from Keyleth’s garden. She’s starting on oatcakes next and Cordell says there’ll be stewed peaches before his shift ends.”

“That does sound wonderful,” Vex had to admit. _He is trying._ “Have you seen Trinket?”

“He’s downstairs. Likely finishing all the trout before we get any,” Vax said pointedly. 

“All right, I’m coming. Laina spoils him, you know? He’d better not get sick again.” 

The twins left Vex’s room and walked to the nearest stairs. Vex glanced briefly to her right as they passed Percy’s door, nighttime thoughts still with her. 

Descending, Vex saw Scanlan sprawled against the curve of the stairwell, seemingly dead to the world. Apparently he had failed to make it all the way to bed. Vax tiptoed past their sleeping friend and kept going. Vex stopped and impulsively knelt beside him. She watched Scanlan’s face for a moment, bent to kiss his forehead, and hurried to rejoin her brother. 

Vax had been right. Trinket was already eating. So was Pike, who brushed a lock of platinum hair out of her eyes and smiled. “Good morning, Vex!” 

Breakfast was everything Vax had promised and the company was better. Pike turned to Vax. “Do you think you could help me with my shield work this morning?” 

“Sure,” he replied, “what do you have in mind?” 

“I just want to see how long it takes you to get past my guard.” 

Vex laughed. “This I have to see.” 

“Good!” said Pike. “You can be our referee.” 

Vax selected a pair of ash sparring sticks from the armory. Pike donned a well-padded doublet and chose a broad steel targe. She left her mace behind. Vex belted on a hip quiver and tested five hunting bows before making her choice.

Joined by Trinket, the three walked out of Greyskull Keep into a bright cerulean dawn. Pale mists in the valley to the south were close to fading. To the north, the walls of Emon glowed in clear light. Trinket and the twins followed Pike downhill to a rolling stretch of grass beside the river, within sight of the keep.

Trinket passed by his companions and continued to the water’s edge.

Pike shook her head. “I can’t believe he’s still hungry.” Sure enough, Trinket began to fish. Pike pulled her shield off her back.

“Pike,” Vax protested, “that shield covers you nearly head-to-toe!”

Pike bent her knees in a defensive stance. “Excuses, excuses.”

Vax grinned, stretched his neck, and twirled his sparring sticks.

Vex raised an open hand. “Ready?”

“Ready!” they yelled together.

Vex let her hand fall. “Now!”

Vax began circling Pike, who took small, controlled steps and kept her shield facing him. Vax kept circling. Pike lowered her shield and quickly raised it again.

“I’m not taking the bait, Pike. If I throw one of these, it’s not coming back to my belt.”

Pike shrugged, eyes darting between the sparring sticks and Vax’s hips. _Smart_ , thought Vex. _An opponent might feint with his head, torso, or limbs — but the hips don’t lie._

A sudden intuition prompted Vex to look back at the keep. Reflected light flashed from the battlement. White hair confirmed to Vex that the flashes were coming from Percy’s spectacles. She waved and turned away, before she could see if Percy waved back.

Still circling, Vax had picked up his pace. He was almost imperceptibly closing the gap with Pike, in a slowly-tightening spiral. With another grin, Vax reversed direction. As he neared a tangle of brushwood, Vax hopped lightly over and continued stalking the gnome, now starting to slow down and speed up with no obvious pattern.

Vex heard splashing and looked over at Trinket, who was taking a break from fishing to chase away gathering seagulls.

Vax rushed at Pike’s shield arm. Pike held her ground. With two steps to go, Vax cut left across her body. He lashed out, trying to hook the edge of Pike’s shield to pry open her guard for a winning hit from his off hand.

Pike was prepared. With a gleam of polished steel, she angled her shield to avoid the hook and to threaten Vax’s knees. Two rapid strikes bounced harmlessly off its surface.

Vax kept running, no doubt hoping to bypass Pike entirely, reverse course, and hit her in the back. Pike thwarted that tactic by pivoting fluidly and keeping her shield between them. Vax was forced to disengage and reset his feet.

Trinket stared at her twin, growling, until Vex signaled that all was well.

“Your rules, Pike,” Vax taunted. “I only have to get lucky once.”

“Luck, my friend, has nothing to do with it,” was her reply. Vex wanted to cheer.

Keeping her head up, Pike bent down and grabbed a handful of loose dirt in her right hand.

Vax laughed appreciatively. “Pike Trickfoot, you rogue!” 

For the moment, her brother was happy. _Thank you, Pike. Thank you._

Vax lunged forward and danced back. He feinted a second time and then a third. The fourth time, he kept charging and Pike hurled her handful of dirt at his face — which was no longer there. Vax was sliding toward Pike’s ankles, his sparring sticks poised to strike from below.

At the last instant, Pike leapt surprisingly high in the air and Vax struck nothing as he slid harmlessly beneath her. Pike landed and whirled and connected with her shield just as Vax was rising from the ground. Bright red blood began to flow freely from Vax’s nose.

Vex doubled over in laughter. When she looked up again, though, the bout was over. Nose still bleeding, Vax was holding a stick against Pike’s neck.

Vex cried out, “Touch!” with a note of pride.

Pike squinted. “C’mon, let’s try again.” 

Vax pointed to his face. “Fix this and my day is yours.”

“LEAVE IT!” a deep voice bellowed from the grassy slope behind them. “We have to show it to the others!” Grog had arrived to root for his best friend.

Pike stopped the worst of the bleeding but left Vax’s purple bruise. The two continued training. The sun ascended into an unclouded sky. Vex took off her boots and stockings and let the wind play across her feet. Winter in Emon had been mild. She looked back at the keep. Percy was no longer visible.

_Nothing has changed._ It felt like a lie.

Trinket returned to Vex’s side for a nap. Noon approached. Grog grew bored with the sparring and would have shaken Trinket awake to wrestle, if not for a hard look from Vex. 

Not long after Trinket stirred from his nap, Pike called a halt. She walked back up the hill, flanked by an enormous bear on one side and a near-giant on the other. Trailing behind, Vax threw an arm around Vex’s shoulders. 

“You stink,” said Vex, as she put her arm around her brother’s shoulders in turn. 

They reached the keep and returned together to the armory. From there, Grog and Vax headed for the kitchen. Trinket followed Pike into the chapel, drawn by his favorite patch of afternoon sun. Vex went to find the steward. “Good afternoon, Erwen. Any letters today?” 

“Good afternoon, Mistress,” replied the old halfling with reedy dignity. “Only one, for Ambassador de Rolo.” 

In a tone of practiced disinterest, Vex suggested she would be happy to take the letter to Percy. 

“I already took it up, my lady.” 

Vex nodded and left Erwen to his tasks. _So much for that excuse._

On her way upstairs, Vex passed Keyleth coming down. The younger half-elf greeted her with an odd look and hurried on by. _Keyleth, I don’t bite._

Vex hesitated a few feet from Percy’s open door. _Now or never, Vex’ahlia._ She strode purposefully into his room. Percy was at his desk, reading. Vex closed the door, which Percy gave no sign of noticing as he put down his book and got up. 

Vex spoke first. “I left you rather abruptly yesterday.” 

Percy looked at her with an expression of intense fondness, laced with strain, that made her want to look away. “You gave me some time to think, Vex’ahlia. I fear I may have overstepped my bounds.” 

“Darling, don’t be ridiculous.” With that hint of aggression, she steadied herself. “You gave me the best compliment of my life. Don’t you dare take it back.” 

He shook his head slowly. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” 

Vex moved to the end of Percy’s bed and sat down. “Percy, may I ask you something?” 

“Of course. What is it?” 

Vex’s voice was artless. “Who is Lillith to you?” 

Percy flushed. “It’s astonishing how many tales can spring from the span of a few hours.” 

Vex did not relent. “Percy, I am not interested in what you did. Who is she to you?” 

Percy removed his glasses. “She is someone I am very glad to have met, at a desperate time for us both.” 

Vex said nothing. She stood. 

Percy spoke as if to forestall her. “Vex, she’s not looking for anything from me.” 

Vex frowned. “That’s unworthy of you, Percy.”

“I didn’t mean,” Percy protested. “What I’m trying to say is,” and he swallowed, “there is someone who means more to her than any man. A girl she is hiding. Her ward. Lillith knows her priorities.” Percy gave Vex an enigmatic smile. “I suppose she is a protector, too.” 

Vex’s frown dissolved into mischief. She sauntered closer to Percy and put a hand on his chest. “Well, then. Might I hope you have a type?” 

_No going back now._

Percy’s pupils widened. He held Vex’s upper arms. She could not tell whether he meant to embrace her or hold her at bay.

“Vex, you are not just a type of woman I like.” Percy stopped himself with an intake of breath. “It doesn’t matter. It is impossible.” 

“Impossible?” Vex repeated, thickly. 

Percy continued to hold her. “I have been acting like a free man when I am not. I am a de Rolo. I believe we left Whitestone in good hands, but Cassandra needs allies. She has only one relative with which to bargain. The time may come — will come — when I will have to make a political match.”

Petals of ice bloomed in Vex’s chest. “You,” she enunciated, “came with us.”

Percy tried again to explain. “Vex’ahlia, I will not dishonor you with false hopes. To go down this road and then to have to break it off … I would never want to do that. I don’t know that I _could_ do that.”

Vex balled the material of Percy’s shirt into her fist. “Percival Fredrickstein — pox on the rest! You had a choice. You gave that up. So did your sister! A council rules, remember? If you wanted a kingdom you should have stayed behind!” 

Percy dropped his chin until his forehead was touching hers. “Vex, what I want —”

“Don’t. Just don’t. Hold your tongue, then.” She released his shirt and walked out.

The hallway was blessedly empty. Vex leaned against the near wall, cupping her temples. What did she think was going to happen? _You are a castoff bastard and he is the last son of Whitestone. You have never been a fool, Vex’ahlia._ What had happened to her? Must she be like her brother in all things? 

Her room was far too close to Percy’s. Vex threw on her cloak and collected her enchanted longbow and a heavy quiver. Removing her earring, she placed it on a bookshelf, rubbed her eyes, and went downstairs. Trinket was waiting for her. She took enough time to belt on his armor. Before they passed through the gate, Vex asked Jarett to tell her brother they were going hunting. 

The bright afternoon sun left her impatient for darkness. She climbed on Trinket’s back and let him choose a direction. The bear walked inland. Once they were out of sight, Vex pressed her face into Trinket’s fur and tried to cry. Nearly shaking with frustration, she found that she could not. 

* * *

A winged shape far above the keep wheeled and swooped downward. The great eagle landed in the chapel garden. Resuming her original form, Keyleth sent her consciousness into the earth and watched over her departing friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Chapter 2]
> 
> Yeah, this one was hard. Reading back through it, apparently Trinket can open doors and close them again. Good to know! Maybe Vox Machina can get his help with other doors they will have to face. 
> 
> I am confused about the exact location of Greyskull Keep. ~~I had the impression from the stream that it lies east of Abadar’s Promenade. Recently on twitter, Matt said it’s south of Emon. For this story, I am sticking with the eastern location.~~ Update: after seeing the Garthok episode, it is south of Emon, so I made a few edits.


	3. Bend in the Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trinket is wiser than Vex. Percy finds something left behind.

The words you spoke  
I know too much  
It's over now  
And not enough  
-TV on the Radio

_Evening. Northeast of Emon._

The sun touched the horizon. A salt wind chilled Vex’s face and hands. Trinket carried her northward through sparsely wooded hills. Dust and dead grass swirled among the darkening trees. Vex told Trinket to stop. She slid from his back and walked to a troop of witch-capped mushrooms. Inspecting them, she plucked several and brushed the dirt off with the tips of her fingers. Vex popped the mushrooms into her mouth, two or three at a time. With Trinket at her side, Vex wandered on for nearly an hour before she felt any change.

Her legs became numb and clumsy beneath her. The sky brightened once more. A fox barked in fear. Trees turned away at her approach. Trinket’s fur seemed impossibly long, like she could walk into it and disappear.

The stars emerged as pearlescent frogs with long tongues of light. She watched their tongues dart out and retract. One shot toward her and she ducked and fell.

Trinket licked her face. His fangs were long and his eyes were slits. Trinket’s armor spread down his body and split into thousands of scales. Vex spat defiantly at the grey dragon and waited for death. Absurdly, the dragon nudged her ribs.

Stranger still, she was grasping the dragon’s neck and hauling herself onto its back. It changed direction, now bearing west by southwest. “Who are you?” said Vex. Its reply was low, plaintive, and incomprehensible.

Cold inched up the back of her neck and spiked into her brain. To open her eyes was agony; to close them meant drifting, directionless nausea.

Vex opened her eyes. The dragon was gone. She realized that Trinket was carrying her to the northern outskirts of Emon. She reproached him. “Trinket, I don’t want to go back yet.” The bear clacked his teeth and kept moving in the same direction. Unsure of her ability to walk, Vex went with him.

Trinket threaded between enclosures of cattle and sheep. Wherever the bear went, the other animals pressed as far to the other side of the field as they could. Pastures gave way to the gardens and cottages of a farming village. Trinket halted by a large home close to the city walls. Vex gripped him tightly and lowered herself to the ground. Trinket accompanied Vex to the door while she kept one hand on his withers.

Vex felt like she knew this place. She knocked. There was no response, so she knocked again. The door opened to reveal a man with white hair and spectacles, wielding a hatchet and a fistful of fire. “Percy?” Vex asked.

“Er, no. Lady Vex’ahlia?” Vex blinked and her vision resolved. This man was older and shorter, with prominent laugh lines on his weathered face. Ben Claus. The farmer stepped to the side and held the door, lifting his lantern high. “Please, come in. You’d better bring your bear in as well, before someone raises the alarm.” Vex crossed the threshold and Trinket followed.

“Rylie,” Mr. Claus called out, “it’s Lady Vex’ahlia, from Vox Machina.”

Vex stepped into a room dominated by a central chimney made of red brick. A double fireplace at the base of the chimney warmed a modest dining area to her left and a cluttered kitchen to her right. A doorframe in front of her led to a great room, where Vex thought she could see chairs, a wool rug, and a handloom illuminated by a floating wisp of light.

Rylie Claus appeared at the great room entrance, wearing a yellow nightdress and carrying her own lantern. “Ben, I know who Lady Vex’ahlia is.”

Vex wobbled on her feet. “Mrs. Claus. Call me Vex.”

“As you say, my dear,” said Mrs. Claus. “You may call us Ben and Rylie.”

Ben looked at Vex with frank concern. He took her elbow and helped her to a seat at the dining table. Trinket found space by the fire.

The crackling of burning wood was painfully loud. Vex rested her head in her hands. She heard a soft voice behind her. “Vex’ahlia, would you like something to eat?” A voice she and her brother had not heard in years. Her heart pounding, Vex looked up and saw Rylie with a plate of brown and white bread, cheese, and apples. Vex nodded mutely and the couple joined her at the table. Ben poured three glasses of water. The Clauses let Vex eat and drink without questions.

Vex composed herself. “I am sorry to appear at such a late hour.”

“We don’t mind,” said Rylie.

Ben smiled. “When you get to be our age, you don’t sleep that much.”

The simple fare lifted Vex’s mood. When she was done, Ben picked up her glass and plate. Rylie asked if she wanted to go to bed. While Trinket stayed by the fire, Vex followed Rylie into the great room and then to the left, where an interior door led to a hallway connecting two bedrooms. Rylie led Vex into the smaller bedroom. The old woman set her lantern on a bedside table.

Vex put aside her weapons, removed her jacket, and sat down on the bed.

Rylie sat down next to her. “Something’s wrong, Vex’ahlia. Do you want to tell me?”

“Oh, Rylie, it’s just a stupid boy.”

Rylie’s brown eyes were warm and bright in the lamplight. “You say that like he could be more.”

Vex shook her head. “He’s my friend and now I’ve gone and fucked up everything.” Rylie let the curse pass without comment and Vex continued. Once she started talking, the words tumbled out without a break. Vex talked about Percy, the Briarwoods, and Whitestone. She described the ziggurat and the horrors within. She found words for what the touch of Lady Briarwood’s death magic felt like and named the fear it left behind.

Rylie interrupted her. “If you don’t mind — I wonder — why did you choose this life?” 

_Did I?_

Vex didn’t answer Rylie directly. She talked about the exhilarating freedom she had felt in her first adventures with Vax after their flight from Syngorn. She talked about Trinket and the grandeur of the wild.

Rylie listened.

Vex did not tell Rylie any of the desperate things she and her brother had done in their long years of peril, before they met other companions worthy of trust. She did not talk about the night she found Trinket. She said nothing of Byroden. As she finished, though, Vex found that she had said enough. “I’m rambling.”

“Maybe,” Rylie conceded. She took Vex’s hand. “But you aren’t the first young woman to pour her heart out in here. This was our daughter’s room.”

Vex eagerly set aside her own concerns. “I didn’t know you had a daughter.” 

“She’s gone, dear,” said Rylie. “She died of a fever. Before you were born, I’m sure.” 

“What was her name?” asked Vex.

“Adeline.”

“That’s beautiful.”

Rylie’s face crinkled into a smile and she left Vex alone to sleep. 

Vex dreamed of cold eyes in the dark. 

* * *

_Morning. Percy’s workshop._

Trickles of sweat ran into Percy’s eyes and down his back. He willed his tired muscles to work the bellows. Hellish waves of heat poured from the mouth of the forge and radiated from the walls. In the heart of the fire, Percy had suspended a brick retort that fed into a thick clay collection jar. Inside the retort, Percy had placed a pale green, globular mass of zinc spar.

Percy’s head bobbed with fatigue. He halted his labors and pulled his mask down over his face. Percy seized the collection jar with iron tongs and flipped it onto a block of stone. He stopped the flow of air to the forge and waited for the jar and its contents to cool.

Through goggles and glasses, he peered inside the jar. It was discolored but empty. Percy removed the mask and confirmed his failure. He stalked to his workbench and swept his papers to the floor. He took off his gloves and started to leave.

Stepping over notes and schematics, a single blank page caught Percy’s eye. A faint golden haze bent the light around it. He picked up the scroll of telescription and stared at it thoughtfully. He carried it back to his workbench, dipped a pen in ink, and wrote.

> Hello?

Percy held his pen above the scroll and waited, feeling foolish.

> Yes? Greetings and salutations. This is Tiberius Stormwind.

> Tiberius, it’s Percy. You didn’t say “I’m from Draconia.”

> Of course not. That would be ridiculous. I am in Draconia.

> That’s a fair point. Tiberius, I don’t know what to do. I let slip to Vex how I feel about her.

> I see. So she shot you down? Happens to the best of us.

> Well, no. It was actually the other way around. I never expected her to react the way she did.

> I don’t understand. You told her how you felt and then you shot her down? Is this some human courting ritual?

Percy coughed.

> No. I admit it sounds terrible when you put it that way. Tiberius, I never meant to hurt her. It’s just that I have to think about Whitestone now. That means land, resources, armies, commerce. Vex’ahlia is not titled.

> POPPYCOCK.

Percy blinked and flipped the page.

> Go on.

> Poppycock, I say. She is Lady Vex’ahlia of the Council of Tal’Dorei.

> Yes, but I am on the Council myself.

> I will spell it out for you.

> Please, by all means.

> Percy, let’s say you took some blue-blooded duchess back to Whitestone. Within six months, you would bankrupt the treasury trying to invent things that could be done twice as well with magic. You’d be penniless today if Vex weren’t holding your purse strings.

Percy clapped a hand to his forehead. More words appeared from Tiberius.

> What other woman would do as much to ensure Whitestone’s prosperity?

Percy scribbled a quick response.

> Tiberius, I love you.

> That is very nice. Unfortunately, my father would never allow it.

> No, perhaps not.

> I will send you more scrolls.

> I’d like that. PdR III

> TS

Percy looked up from the scroll and took stock of himself. He grabbed his longcoat, slung Bad News over his shoulder, and went to find Keyleth. She was in her room, still sleeping.

“Keyleth. Wake up.”

She groaned. “Percy. I don’t really feel like talking to you right now.”

“Hypocrite.”

“Shut up. Let me sleep.”

Percy insisted. “I need to know where she is.”

Keyleth scrutinized his face. She sighed and sat up. “Trinket’s a lot easier to track than Vex. I stopped worrying when he turned back and stopped at the Clauses’ farm for the night.” Keyleth’s eyes lost focus and she uttered words of power that Percy could never remember once the spell was done. She looked at Percy again. “They’re still there. Look for a large red house just outside the North Gate.”

“Thank you, Keyleth.” Percy took in her nod of acknowledgement and left for the stables.

She whispered behind him. “Good luck.”

Soon after, Percy mounted a dark bay stallion from Marquet and rode for the gates of the city. 

* * *

_Home of Rylie and Ben Claus._

Vex listened to the hushed sounds of an argument in the other bedroom. “Rylie, Vex’ahlia’s done enough. Don’t trouble her with your suspicions.”

“We have to, Ben. She spoke up for us the last time. She will help. You may not believe me —”

“I never said I didn’t believe you.”

“Good. Three slaughtered in two days? And they’re not letting anyone in the house.”

“She’s in no condition —”

“The guards know nothing of these things. Roesia needs her now. The child needs her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Chapter 3]
> 
> Yes, I am deepening Vex’s relationships with Emon NPCs just before _it_ happens. I am a terrible person.


	4. Lady in a Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vex makes a house call.

“She pretends to be strict and no nonsense, but really she’s just a big softy ...”  
-Laura Bailey

To her touch, the door to the Clauses’ bedroom felt still and solid. To her eyes, though, the grain of the wood undulated like a spider web in a soft breeze. _Fucking mushrooms._

Vex called through the door. “Rylie, Ben, I was awake. Who has been slaughtered?”

After some shuffling from within, Ben opened the door and Rylie answered her. “A bull and two goats.”

Rylie must have seen the look on Vex’s face. She spread her fingers in a pleading gesture. “Since the day before yesterday. For three people! Please, Vex’ahlia, come with me and I’ll make some tea and explain.”

Vex and Ben followed Rylie to the front of the house. The fire was too bright and the shadows were too long, but Vex was regaining her sense of balance.

Trinket yawned and stretched. Ben brought him a pail of drinking water and, after some suggestions from Vex, a yard-long trencher filled with root vegetables, nuts, and dried berries.

Over tea and breakfast, Rylie told Vex about an old midwife who had long traveled between the small farming and fishing communities north of Emon and along the coast, delivering babies and brewing medicines.

“One of our neighbors, Hamund, is a widower with a daughter named Roesia. Last year, a local boy got her with child. The boy left for the city after the fall harvest and hasn’t come back.”

Ben crossed his arms and frowned. Rylie carried on with her story. “Roesia will have her child soon. The midwife got here two days ago. I saw her. She looks the same as ever, a little older, I guess, and her voice is unchanged — but something isn’t right. I wish I knew more, Vex’ahlia.”

Raindrops began to patter on the roof and splash against the windows. Vex pondered the sparse details Rylie had laid out. “So, in two days, Hamund has killed three large animals to feed himself, his daughter, and this midwife?”

“That’s right,” said Rylie.

Vex pressed her. “Are you sure they’ve had no other visitors?”

“No one,” Rylie confirmed. “We all talk to each other.”

_Maybe he’s putting up some reserves so he’ll have less to do when his grandchild comes. Maybe not._ “I will go to Hamund’s house.”

Rylie smiled with evident relief. “Thank you, my dear.” Ben offered to to show her the way.

Vex went back for her leathers and weapons. The pit of her stomach churned. _Is it Rylie’s story or the mushrooms?_ She calmed herself by tracing the mithral scrolling on her bow with the tips of her fingers.

Vex stepped out into the rain with her hood down and raised her face to the sky. The cold water roused her mind and senses. Trinket trotted out to the road to relieve himself. Ben joined them, carrying a walking stick with a large knot at one end. Vex pulled up her hood and went with Ben and Trinket down the road to the north. They passed a bakery, a farrier, and an ancient stone shrine. Further on, the surrounding farmhouses became smaller and scarcer.

The rain poured down in swirling patterns that Vex found fascinating. She shook her head to clear it and thought about Rylie’s suspicions. “Ben, what sort of a man is Hamund?”

Ben took a few more steps before he spoke. “Well, he hasn’t been the same since his wife died. She was the rock of that family. He keeps to himself these days.”

“Is he trustworthy?”

“I have always known him to be an honest man and — I think he’s done his best with Roesia.”

Trinket blew out a loud breath and slapped the ground. His head went down and began to sway, ears cocked forward. Vex put a hand on Ben’s arm. “Are we near?”

“Yes.”

“Which house is Hamund’s?” Vex asked with quiet urgency.

Ben pointed to a modest grey cottage sixty yards on. “That one.”

Vex peered at it through the rain. “Tell me what it looks like inside and how many doors and windows there are.”

Ben drew lines in the softening dirt with his walking stick, indicating the front door, two rooms, small side windows and a large window in the back. “Above that, there’s a loft with beds.”

Vex glanced at Trinket. His lips had curled back to reveal his teeth. _Shitballs._ The sick feeling in Vex’s stomach returned. “Ben, listen to me. Go no closer. Whatever may lie inside that house, keep the neighbors back. If you hear fighting, send a rider for the guard.”

Vex paused to weigh the unknowns. “And then on to Greyskull Keep.”

The old farmer looked like he wanted to argue but instead he nodded. “Pelor’s light be with you, Vex’ahlia.”

“And with you.” Vex bent to Trinket’s ear and whispered rapid commands. The bear left the road. Vex quickly checked her weapons and walked toward the cottage. Ben took shelter under a tree and watched them go.

Vex opened a fence gate and knocked on the front door. She waited. She heard a sound to her right and a man with ruddy cheeks and a receding hairline came around the side of the building.

The man knitted his brows in suspicion or puzzlement. “Never had an elf come to my door before. Who are you?” Under his green eyes, there were dark circles, and the little muscles at the corners of his jaw were tightly clenched.

Vex kept her voice low. “My name is Vex’ahlia. Are you Hamund?”

“Might be. What’s your business?”

Vex detected no threat from him, only wariness and underlying fear. “Rylie Claus asked me to look in on you and your daughter. I’m one of the group that drove off that giant bird.”

The man looked past Vex’s shoulder to the bow on her back. Vex knew it would be dimly glowing in the shadow of the rain clouds. He stared openly. “That was well done, but there are no giant birds here.”

Vex smiled and held out an open palm to catch the raindrops. “Are you going to leave a lady out in a storm?”

The man grunted in possible amusement. “This ain’t no storm. Just a soft Emon day, that’s all.” Vex held her posture and waited. At last, he stuck out his hand. “I’m Hamund. You can come inside.”

Vex shook Hamund’s hand and they went in. Under her cloak, Vex kept her left hand on the hilt of her opal dagger.

The cottage interior was dim and had a faint scent of meat just starting to turn bad. In the far corner, a white-haired figure in a midnight blue dress was whispering to an obviously pregnant young woman seated in a rocking chair. _Roesia and the midwife._ Roesia’s dark brown hair wreathed a face without expression. Eyes like her father’s stared straight ahead. She looked like an animal in a steel trap that had given up trying to pull free. 

Vex was acutely aware that this cramped cottage was a bad spot for an archer.

The midwife turned toward the door. She leaned on a short staff of whitewood. Her face was sun-browned and creased with wrinkles. Her irises were such a light blue that they almost blended into the whites of her eyes. The dark pupils looked Vex up and down before meeting Vex’s own eyes. Vex shivered for a moment in her wet clothes. She felt like she could lose herself in that eerie gaze. _If you’re just a folk healer, I’m a goliath._

“Hamund,” said the white-haired woman with severity, “I told you this is a dangerous time for your daughter. She has no strength for uninvited guests.”

“I will not keep you, Grandmother,” Vex replied evenly. “I am only a passing friend. Let us speak for a moment.”

Hamund stood beside Vex and looked at Roesia.

The midwife moved out of the corner. She kept her disconcerting pupils fixed on Vex. “You are lucky in your friends, Hamund. You have seen many battles, my child, have you not? Tell me your name.”

Vex squeezed Hamund’s elbow to stop him from speaking. _I need to act._ It was just as Rylie had said. There was something very wrong with this woman. Yet the after-effects of the mushrooms left Vex doubting her own perceptions. Trinket’s warning display on the road seemed like a better guide.

“I am waiting,” prompted the midwife.

Now that the older woman had gone a few feet away, a spark of life returned to Roesia’s eyes. She seemed to be silently begging Vex to do something. Vex made her decision.

“Tell me first about your trade, Grandmother,” said Vex. “What do you charge for your services?”

“I ask only for food and a place to sleep. Nothing more.”

“Really?” Vex cocked her head. “You don’t even ask for a _trinket_?” Vex loudly emphasized the last word.

The midwife took a step toward Vex. “No. Your name.”

Vex stalled for time and repeated her vocal pattern. “Can I offer you nothing else for helping my friends, here? There must be something you would _take_.”

“You speak strangely, half-blood,” said the midwife, tightening her grip on her staff. The cottage felt suddenly colder.

“I don’t understand,” Vex said with a placating tone. She could see her breath inside the room. Vex gestured at Roesia. “We are all here for _her_.”

“Are we?” the white-haired woman sneered. She sniffed the frigid air. “Hamund, look to your herds. There is something loose in the yard.”

“I should go as well.” Vex rose onto the balls of her feet. “I will see myself” — and then she shouted — “ _out_!”

Trinket’s front paws crashed through the large window behind the midwife. The bear’s head sent more glass flying as his jaws clamped down on the woman’s neck and shoulder. Trinket pulled her out into the rain.

Vex wasted no time checking on Hamund and Roesia’s reactions. She seized her bow as she sprinted forward and dove out the broken window. Her right forearm hit the muck hard as she protected her bow from the impact and tucked into a roll. Leaping to her feet and drawing an arrow, Vex saw double.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Chapter 4]
> 
> I have a whole backstory for how Rylie knew. Matt Mercer NPCs live in my head.


	5. The Throat of Want

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vex and Trinket face a difficult foe.

“There are things that go bump in the night, Agent Myers. Make no mistake about that. And _we_ are the ones who bump back.”  
-Prof. Trevor Bruttenholm

Through the pelting rain, Vex saw two towering silhouettes locked together in a contest of strength. Trinket, standing on his hind legs and roaring. Partially obscuring Trinket, the back of a giant, taller by a head and almost as broad. Matted strands of black hair fell past the collar of a deep brown short coat. Blue-toned hands ending in sharp black nails held off Trinket’s claws with the haft of a great white spear, jagged at both ends. 

Vex aimed between the giant’s shoulder blades and loosed her arrow. It struck true and rebounded. _Armor — or worse._ Vex backed away and looked around for the white-haired woman while she drew a second arrow. _Either she’s the giant or we’ve got company._ Vex sent her next shot toward the back of the giant’s thigh. She grinned with satisfaction as the arrowhead punched through its leather trousers and sank into the muscle.

The giant’s leg wound gave Trinket a momentary advantage. The giant took a step backwards to keep its balance and avoid the bear’s snapping jaws. With an angry yawp, the giant wrenched its spear away and jumped — 

_or flew_

— to the roof of Hamund’s house. Vex looked up and saw the giant turn to face its foes. A face like an ogre’s, but with an unfamiliar, ravenous intelligence. Eyes the opposite of the midwife’s — dark, with strikingly white pupils. Male. A pair of ivory horns. Rows of jet black teeth in its smirking mouth.

Below, Vex saw Hamund at the broken window, eyes wide.

Vex looked up again, just in time to see the demonic ogre throw a small object to shatter against the roof. A cloud of arcane darkness billowed from the point of impact, covering the ogre and the entire cottage. A woman screamed. _Fuck fuck fuck._

Vex’s reaction likely saved her life.

Keeping the shape of the cottage in her mind’s eye, Vex aimed an arrow up the incline of the roof. As she let it fly, Vex intoned, _“Iokheaira.”_ A shower of arrows left her bow, covering the entire rooftop and beyond before most of them winked out of existence in the air above. Some went into the darkness. Where the roof had been visible a moment before, Vex heard dull thuds as arrows struck wood. In one spot, the sounds were softer. _There you are._

Vex lurched to the side as a shadow sprang at her out of that spot in the darkness like a wolf spider, arrows sticking from its legs, arms, and face, and one from the center of its midsection. The ogre stabbed downward and its spear split the earth where Vex had been standing. 

She barely kept her footing. Vex scrambled to the edge of the inky cloud and spun back toward the ogre. She called out behind her, “Hamund! Roesia! Are you all right?”

The demonic creature pulled its spear from the ground and began to yank arrows out of its flesh with its free hand. Its blood was thick and wine-black. To Vex’s left, Trinket emerged from the darkness and cautiously advanced on the ogre. 

_You won’t hide from me again._ Vex pulled a thread of mystical energy from the weave of the world and, with a thought, tied it around the ogre. _“Opsis.”_ In a rush, her senses were suffused with the form, sound, and smell of her quarry. Vex crinkled her nose in disgust and nocked another arrow.

She heard Hamund’s voice shouting fearfully in the dark. “Vex’ahlia! What is this witchery?”

The ogre leered and reached out toward her. It spoke in the Common Tongue. “Vex’ahlia, is it? Now I know you.”

Vex began to move. _Too late._

Gales of ice spewed from the creature’s outstretched hand. Vex tucked into a tight ball to protect her core. The spell shocked her like a plunge into freezing waters. Cold penetrated to her bones. Her teeth and brain instantly began to ache.

The icy wind blasted into the darkness behind her. Vex heard a man’s desperate cry of pain — abruptly cut short. 

The ogre turned to ward off Trinket with the point of its spear. With a curse, Vex forced her gelid limbs to move. The cold rain soaked through her clothes, making it harder to recover from the spell. A shepherd’s horn began to sound. Vex limped into a run to put some distance between her and the ogre. She looked back and saw something that turned her earlier sense of dread into true fear.

The demon’s many wounds appeared to be slowly closing.

_If I live through this, Vax is going to kill me._

Vex’s cramped wheezing subsided into normal breathing. She remembered Seeker Asum’s training and changed tactics. The muddy field on which she stood offered plenty of concealment in the form of trees, uneven ground, hay bales, and a wagon. Even the cows. Vex began a war of attrition. She found a hiding place, took a carefully aimed shot at the ogre, moved to new cover, and shot again. Always, Vex kept an eye on Trinket. The bear and the ogre were facing off, claw against spear. The monstrous mage, or demon, or whatever it was, had not yet cast another spell. _Thank Sarenrae._

Vex could tell that Trinket was naturally quicker than their enemy and just as strong. Her arrows were inflicting more wounds than the ogre’s body could regenerate. Trinket should have been able to hold his own. It was rapidly becoming apparent, however, that he could not.

Trinket’s speed and stamina were waning. The ogre’s spear must have carried some dire enchantment. With every cut, Trinket became more sluggish. It now seemed like the ogre was toying with him. Vex’s heart was in her throat. _No. I will not risk this._

Vex stepped from her hiding place and strode boldly toward the ogre. She threw back her hood and shouted. “Here I am, you sonofabitch!”

The ogre glanced back at her over its shoulder and delivered another insufferable smirk. It produced a squat and ugly wand from its coat and pointed the wand at Trinket. The wand was tipped with the small bleached skull of an animal. The bone began to glow with amber light and Trinket made a whimpering cry like a terrified cub. Her bear began to grovel in front of the ogre.

With the ogre looming tall over Trinket’s prone form, Vex had the angle she needed. She aimed and invoked her bow’s enchantment. One arrow became three. Two arrows hit their mark and burned up in flashes of lightning. Vex pulled the cord of her magic tighter around the ogre’s neck and inhaled the stench of its burning skin with her heightened sense of smell.

Her foe turned squarely toward her. Its demonic blue face was now purple with rage. Vex had already nocked another arrow. At her word, flames ran down the bowstring and across the shaft. She loosed a flaming arrow at the demon’s heart. She did not miss, but the arrow bounced off harmlessly and guttered out in the rain.

Vex visualized her first barrage and recalled the single arrow jutting from the dead center of the ogre’s belly. _I bet he has a hauberk under that coat. Double or nothing it’s fastened down the middle. If it’s ill-fitting, there may be a gap._

The horn was still sounding. Above Hamund’s field, ravens had begun to circle, waiting for the loser to fall.

The ogre spoke again, its voice resonant with contempt. “I will crack your spine, _Vex’ahlia_ , just like the crone’s. Her arts were too feeble to stop me, and so are yours.” It advanced on Vex with the silky grace of a predator. “When I am done with you, I will drag the little mother from this shithole and — uhhh!”

Vex silenced the ogre with an arrow to the throat. “You will _not_. I am the hunter here.” From the direction of the road, she heard distant sounds of hoofbeats.

Spitting blood, the ogre put the wand away and made a standing leap at Vex’ahlia. It flew through the air, holding the white spear loosely in one clawed hand and thrusting it forward with the other. For all her quickness, the icy shard at the tip of the spear caught Vex under her bow arm and pinned her. Numbing cold spread from the wound and her longbow dropped from Vex’s fingers.

The ogre moved hand over hand up the haft of the spear until Vex was within its reach. It tore her body off the spearhead with a lashing swipe from its left hand. Her right arm was pressed against her ribs and her left arm hung limply, cold and useless. With obscene slowness, the creature swept its thumb across Vex’s chest and brought it to rest on her sternum. The ogre could now crush Vex’s heart any time it wanted, as if she were a small game bird in a net.

Vex lifted her chin and glared into the ogre’s eyes as the rain ran down her face. She could not stand to think beyond the task at hand. _Forgive me, Roesia._

At the sight of his mother in the monster’s grasp, Trinket’s claws sank into the earth. The bear closed his eyes to shut out the fear. Rising, guided only by his sense of smell, Trinket bounded forward and bit through stringy hair into the exposed skin at the nape of the monster’s neck. It stumbled.

The ogre’s grip on Vex loosened, but it did not let go. Neither did Trinket. Vex’s bow was gone. The dagger under her cloak was held fast by the ogre’s fingers. _One last throw._ Vex lifted her knees and willed her frozen left arm to reach for the smaller knife she kept in her boot. The right boot, of course.

The ogre was adjusting its grip on the spear. It flexed its right arm, poised to stab at the beast behind. Trinket was completely exposed. Vex’s trembling fingers slipped into her boot and closed around the knife handle. _Help me, brother._

Vex struck first. She pulled the knife free and arced it out and down again, piercing the web of the ogre’s clutching left hand between the thumb and forefinger. Vex twisted the knife. The demon shrieked and hurled Vex through the air. She hit the ground hard and the wind was knocked from her lungs. Vex fought to breathe.

With difficulty, she turned her head to look at her bear. Trinket had released the ogre’s neck and was now backing away, eyes closed. Vex tasted a tang of iron in her mouth.

She heard the clatter of horses and metal. _If that’s the city guard, I take back everything I’ve ever said about them._

The ogre drew out his wand and pointed it at the sound of the riders. The wand hummed with power. A cone of sickly amber light shone forth from the mouth of the skull. As the light faded, the wand crumbled into ash in the ogre’s hand. This led to an outraged rant in a language Vex did not recognize.

Vex finally succeeded in taking her first sips of air since her fall. She rolled her head to see what the wand had wrought. A dozen mounted guards were fleeing back to the city in disorder, at a full gallop. A single uniformed rider remained on the field, struggling to control his horse.

The rant ended. The ogre turned back toward Trinket. Vex took sharp, painful breaths and propped herself up on one elbow. She swept the field with her eyes, searching for her bow.

Footsteps splashed closer to where Vex lay and a soft hand stretched out. Vex took it and was boosted to her feet. It was the thirteenth guard, tall, round featured, and frightened. Judging by his youth, he was barely more than a recruit.

“My lady.” The young guard pressed a loaded crossbow and a case of bolts into Vex’s hands and drew his sword. To Vex, the simple crossbow felt like hope.

She put the ogre in the crossbow’s sights and croaked out a word of power. _“Selas.”_ She pulled the trigger. A bolt of lightning shot forward and staggered the ogre. It sank to its knees, convulsing.

Vex pointed at the billowing black mass that shrouded Hamund’s cottage. She issued gasping commands to the guard. “Find … any survivors. Help them flee.”

The young recruit hesitated. He stared at the arcane cloud and gritted his teeth.

Vex clapped his arm. “You are … a guard of Emon. Go. It is only darkness!” The youth saluted and took off running toward the cottage, into the stuff of nightmares.

Vex started to reload the crossbow. The ogre mage jerked to its feet. It began to shimmer and shrink. Before Vex’s eyes, the ogre took on the appearance of the guard who had just left her side — but armed with a regulation-sized spear instead of a sword.

Vex heard the sound of another rider, followed by shouting from Ben Claus. She raised the crossbow and fired at the imposter guard, barely missing. She slotted in another bolt. A man on a dark bay horse galloped onto the field. Vex gaped in disbelief.

_Percival._

Had the demon reached into her very mind? Or was it the _fucking mushrooms_?

Percy lined up Bad News and fired without hesitation at the form of the city guard. Vex did not even notice the result. She cleared her throat and called out to him.

“Are you real?”

“I am!” came the reply in Percy’s distinctive baritone. Percy swung his leg over his horse’s rump and dropped to the ground.

The ogre-guard pointed at Trinket with the hand that had held the wand. It spoke again in its unknown language. A plume of white smoke drifted into the bear’s mouth and nostrils. Trinket’s head sank and he fell forward into the mud. The impostor howled in triumph.

Vex made no sound. Her vision narrowed to a red band of fury. She dropped the crossbow and drew her remaining dagger.

Blade out, Vex began to run through the rain toward her enemy.

The impostor held its spear forward and waited for her. Black blood dripped from its wounds.

Mud splashed the backs of Vex’s legs as she ran. Percy was screaming her name. The guard’s round young face twisted into a demonic mask. Vex neared the reach of its spear. The guard’s attention suddenly shifted past her.

Vex heard a crack like thunder and saw the impostor’s entire body rock backward. New blood splashed from its gut and its spear went wide. 

Vex flung herself at the opening. She drove her weapon into the center of the demon’s chest. It fell and then — its body dissolved into mist. 

Vex slashed ineffectually at the mist with her bloody dagger. “Percy!” she cried. “It’s getting away!” The mist creeped slowly toward the now-visible cottage. The cloud of darkness was gone. Hamund remained at the broken window, motionless, encased in ice.

Percy ran by her. White smoke seeped from the barrel of Bad News. 

Percy’s voice cut through Vex’s rage. “Vex’ahlia! Trinket lives! He has been made to sleep!” Vex stumbled toward the sound and saw Percy on his knees, Bad News tossed aside, cradling Trinket’s head. Vex watched Trinket breathe raggedly in and out and in again. She dropped to her knees next to Percy and put out her hand to touch Trinket’s fur. Vex closed her eyes. 

_“Soteira.”_

Healing energies flowed from Vex’s fingers into Trinket’s body. She opened her eyes. Trinket’s breaths were now deep and even. He began to snore. Vex burst into teary laughter.

“Now you.” Percy held out a healing potion. Vex wiped away her tears, accepted the potion, and drank. Her spear wound closed and began to throb. Her cracked ribs strengthened and the elixir warmed her muscles and joints. 

Vex winced. _Pain. Pain is good. Oh, fuck._

Vex looked to her right. The mist was now halfway to the cottage and barely visible. A crowd of people up the road was beginning to move in their direction. Vex struggled to her feet. “Percy, my bow — the crossbow — we need magic.”

Percy stood behind her. “There’s no time. I have an idea. My gun, your lightning.” Percy muttered an ancient curse and the mist darkened with a new, latent energy. He drew his pistol and stepped up to Vex’s back. 

He spoke quietly in Vex’s ear. “I’ll aim. You fire.” She let him lift her arm with his as he pointed the barrel of the gun.

Despite the rain, Vex felt a distracting heat spread across her body. She closed her hand around Percy’s and felt for the pistol’s trigger. 

_“Selas.”_ Vex squeezed her finger.

Electricity shot out of the gun barrel and struck the mist. On impact, it expanded into a ball of white-hot lightning that detonated Percy’s hex. Black tendrils crushed the ball of lightning into a tiny hissing core and then, with a concussive boom, necrotic and electrical energy exploded outward together.

The pistol’s recoil had knocked Vex back into Percy’s chest. Tiny shocks passed through their entwined hands and danced over their skin and between their bodies.

As the energies faded, they revealed the smoking, lifeless bulk of the ogre mage where the mist had been. Hamund was no longer visible at the cottage window.

Vex felt Percy withdraw to a more polite distance. He took a few steps toward the ogre’s corpse. “You fought _that_ thing?”

“Yeah.” Vex looked back at Trinket, who was still snoring. “Percy?”

“Yes?”

“Shall we loot it?”

He chuckled. “Sure.”

Vex paused. “There’s just one thing I want to know, first. Actually, two things.”

“Very well.”

“Percy, when you rode up, it must have looked like I was getting ready to shoot a city guard. You didn’t wait, you didn’t ask questions. You just fired at him. Why?”

Percy shrugged. “It was you. So I knew you had a good reason.”

The heat threatened to return. Vex talked fast. “Here’s the second thing. I don’t mean this to sound ungrateful, but — what the fuck are you doing here?”

Percy rubbed his forehead. 

Vex stood in the rain and looked at him. Her hair was plastered to her scalp and the outer layer was crusted with ice. She was bone tired, felt like she had been rolling in a pig sty, and was spattered with a mix of the ogre’s blood and her own.

Percy’s blue eyes looked back at her like he was in the presence of a goddess of desire. The heat started to boil into anger.

“Percival, if you have something to say, you’d better say it now.”

“Vex’ahlia,” he said, coming closer, “I have been an unutterable fool.”

Vex nodded her agreement.

A smile broke across Percy’s face. “Gods, you’ve always seemed so fearless,” he whispered. With a trembling hand, he placed four fingers on the hollow of her throat. Vex closed her eyes.

“But you’re just as scared as I am, aren’t you?” His thumb brushed her lips.

Vex’s eyelids flew open and she retaliated, trapping the tip of Percy’s thumb between her teeth. She seized his wrist before she released the intruding thumb.

“You taste like gunpowder and grease.” She took a half step back, still gripping Percy’s wrist.

Percy took a step forward. “You have me at a disadvantage, then,” he said. “I don’t know what you —”

Vex stretched up onto her toes and showed him.

Vex eventually became aware of something other than _heat_ and Percy’s mouth. They were not alone. She broke their embrace.

Ben Claus stood in the field. His voice was stern. “Sir.”

Percy sighed. “Yes, friend?”

Ben’s posture stiffened. “I am not your friend. When this young woman came to our home last night, she was pretty upset. At you, if I’m not mistaken. She just risked her life in a fight that wasn’t hers — against a giant, no less — and she prevailed.” He looked at Vex. “Gods only know at what cost to herself.”

Vex smiled at Ben to show him she was fine.

Ben took out a handkerchief and wiped his face. “Sir, I need to know if your intentions are honorable. Walk with me, please.”

Vex was stunned. Percy looked trapped. He stared imploringly at Vex. She raised an eyebrow and gestured toward Ben, as if to say “I think you’d better go with him.”

Percy retrieved his rifle and walked off with the older man. Vex went to wake up Trinket. Together, they found her bow. Ravens now obscured the ogre’s head like a living veil. Trinket dispersed them — cawing in protest — with a roar and a wave of his paw. Vex reached for the white spear. Renewed pain wracked her side and she drew back her hand. “Mother bitch, that hurts.” Vex opened the ogre’s coat with the tip of her dagger. Underneath, there was a chainmail vest of black iron. She found nothing else of interest and abandoned the corpse to the ravens.

Vex proceeded to the broken window. She closed her eyes and turned away. Hamund’s body had shattered. _Surely he was already dead?_

People were gathering along the fence on the other side of the cottage. Roesia and the young guard were among them. The onlookers gave way as Vex approached with her armored bear. Pregnant as she was, Roesia curtsied.

Vex waved her off. “Darling, that truly isn’t necessary.” She hesitated. “I’m so sorry about your father.”

Roesia nodded. “Thank you. It’s Vex’ahlia, isn’t it? If you hadn’t walked through our door, I think we were both ...” She didn’t finish her sentence. Instead, she surprised Vex with a fierce, tight hug. “I know you tried to draw her away.”

With a twinge of guilt, Vex returned the hug. She felt a tiny kick and jumped back, startled. “Uh, are you staying here? Do you need anything?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

Vex looked at the guard. “Maybe the city can help. What’s your name, soldier?”

“Taff, my lady.”

“Well, Taff, I’ll be talking to the Sovereign about you.” The young man looked flustered. “Do me just one favor, though.” He nodded. “I am in need of a bath and a drink.” _Among other things._ “Would you handle the explanations when your comrades return?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Vex took her leave of the two young people when Percy found her again. He looked relatively unharmed, if a little pale.

Vex gave him a tired smile. “So, Percy. Did you convince Ben that you are an honorable man?”

Percy coughed. “We never got past ‘Mister Claus.’ I think I did.”

“Good,” said Vex with a wink. “Take me home and honor me.”

* * *

_This story continues in Hunter’s Rest and The Unforsaken._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Chapter 5]
> 
> Many thanks to all the other critters. I am having a great time writing for fun again. This chapter is a little longer than my previous ones, but it didn’t seem fair to Vex to break it up.
> 
> Update: I decided to play CritRoleStats and check the encounter difficulty for this fight. For a single Level 13 adventurer, an Oni is well over the threshold for a hard encounter (near deadly). That doesn’t factor in the Oni’s weapons, an Ice Devil Spear and a Wand of Fear. Sorry, Vex!


End file.
